secret of Polichinelle

From French secret de Polichinelle. Polichinelle (English Punch or
Punchinello) was a stock
character in Italian puppetry. Earliest documented use: 1828.

USAGE:

"The tsar waited until after the memorial services on the fortieth day
after the empress's death ... and announced that he had decided to
marry Katya. The games between the tsar and the minister, the secret
of Polichinelle, were over."
Edvard Radzinsky; Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar; Free Press; 2005.

"How often has she taunted me with lack of dignified reserve and needful
caution! How many times has she saucily insinuated that all my affairs
are the secret of Polichinelle!"
Charlotte Brontë; Villette; Smith, Elder & Co.; 1853.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from that of their social environment. -Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (1879-1955)